Martial Arts Assassin (6)

"...What are you going to make me do next?"

The next morning came before Sannyeo finally threw that question at me. Just asking it seemed to drain her mentally. I scratched my head and answered.

"I haven't decided yet."

There were about three candidates, but no matter which one I mentioned, I couldn't envision a future Sannyeo would like. So I decided to leave the exact location and what exactly I'd do to her imagination. Sannyeo let out a deep sigh at my evasion, shook her head from side to side, and then composed herself.

While pleasant and fair rewards were being exchanged, at our core this was a revenge drama. We couldn't afford to become so absorbed in rewards that we lost that momentum. Sannyeo, too, seemed to have barely untangled herself from the knot where vengeance and compensation intertwined.

"...I hold a great deal of personal resentment toward the Tang Clan. They didn't send direct ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠personnel, but they supplied poison to ensure no one escaped Sannyeo Valley. They scattered poison, set fires, and then indiscriminately slaughtered the people fleeing from Sannyeo Valley."

Whenever Sannyeo brought up Sannyeo Valley, her voice sank. In contrast, the light in her crimson eyes flared to a deeper shade of red. She continued.

"If you can truly bring down the Tang Clan this time, I could say my revenge is more than halfway complete."

"It won't be easy. First, I'll have to go back and sound out Zhuge Yeong-yu a bit."

It wasn't entirely impossible that the Zhuge Family might cooperate. Who knew if Zhuge Yeong-yu had always found the Tang Clan distasteful? Of course, I wasn't holding out that much hope. Sannyeo gazed out the window and said.

"I don't have very high hopes. Once you reach the level of a great house, they're bound to be calculating even as they preach chivalry."

"I'm not expecting much either. But at times like this, if you probe once, you'll have something to say later."

Whether or not one has an excuse to offer was a critical matter. Sannyeo nodded at my words, but she was looking at the coachman, who was dragging himself along in a weary waddle into the inn courtyard.

"By the way, how are we getting back? The carriage was smashed to pieces. There's no way a mountain village like this has a carriage for sale."

I rubbed my chin for a moment at her words, lost in thought. As for the coachman, I could just hand him a horse and travel expenses and he'd manage getting back on his own. As for me....

"...No."

When her eyes met mine, Sannyeo shook her head from side to side. I nodded to her and said.

"Let's go, Red Hare."

It couldn't be helped. Sannyeo would surely come to the same conclusion. The fastest way to return was to ride Sannyeo.

******

"...You said you met the Tournament Killer?"

"I did. The second of the three Tournament Killer brothers launched a surprise attack on me. It was a truly fierce battle where my life hung in the balance."

After arriving in Hubei Province, I said that while rubbing ointment onto the minor cuts on my face. With the scar marks on my arm and my face scraped up here and there, my injuries must have looked quite severe to Zhuge Yeong-yu. He reached out his hand with worry, his fingers twitching as if they might brush my arm, then let them drop and stamped his personal seal onto the desk.

"Are those wounds also from the Tournament Killer?"

"I got kicked by a horse."

I had just grasped the profound principles of the peak realm, but that alone wasn't enough. My inner energy was insufficient, so I couldn't protect my face with inner power all day long. Sannyeo had declared this too was training and ran like a madwoman until I forcibly wrung out my inner energy to protect my face, and the minor cuts on my face were the marks of that defeat.

"To have taken down the Spiral Sword, your skills must have improved considerably. It seems you're truly advancing by leaps and bounds."

Je Gang, Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, said that as he stared straight at me. His gleaming eyes paired with an unwelcoming expression suggested he was wary of me growing stronger. The imperial household's stance was probably the same as Je Gang's. To the Zhuge Family and the imperial house, I was a useful blade, but at the same time, I had a side that made them wonder when and how I might stab them in the back.

How could they reassure themselves that they wouldn't suffer the way other sects had, the way I'd worked them over? The moment their suspicion turned to certainty was the moment the bastards would try to strike me down. I patted my face with a piece of cloth and said this.

"That's still insufficient. To shatter my bones to dust for the future of the imperial household and the world under heaven, I need to become stronger than this."

"If you grow too strong too suddenly, you'll draw attention."

Je Gang spoke in a low voice. Zhuge Yeong-yu also glanced at Je Gang, then looked back at me. Ignoring Yeong-yu's gaze, I locked eyes with Je Gang and said.

"Am I not already a person of interest? A renowned assassin from Shaanxi Province came after my head. Next time, perhaps the Sichuan Tang Clan might deliver their lethal poison."

"Th-that's...!"

Zhuge Yeong-yu shot up in shock. I had merely given an example, but his reaction was ghastly. Was he always this timid? The way he grabbed the table and leapt up in a fluster, then looked around and sat back down, was utterly like a little girl. But Yeong-yu's vehement reaction was a good sign to me. Conversely, Je Gang seemed displeased by how Zhuge Yeong-yu appeared to be swayed by me.

Je Gang said.

"Even the Murim Alliance wouldn't be able to employ the Sichuan Tang Clan so freely. In a fight where justification is crucial, if they went and killed a master out of the blue, it would only provoke backlash."

"What use is justification after you're dead? The poison ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won't have 'Property of the Tang Clan' written on it either. Once I'm dead, how would you prove it was the Tang Clan's doing? Isn't the Jinju Eon Family, who specialize in examining corpses, also on the Murim Alliance's side?"

Je Gang closed his mouth. If assassins didn't work, then naturally poison would come next. I threw one more question at Je Gang.

"And even if it were proven to be the Sichuan Tang Clan's doing, what could you do about it?"

"...It would be right to rest for a while."

Zhuge Yeong-yu, who had been rubbing his chin, opened his mouth. His pupils were wavering, but his expression was serious. Je Gang nodded as if agreeing with Zhuge Yeong-yu's words, then retreated behind him. Zhuge Yeong-yu faced me and spoke.

"Ultimately, both assassination and political strife are battles of momentum, part of a landscape where warnings and threats cycle back and forth. You said, great hero, that they sent even a Tang Clan assassin because you are an important figure, but the Murim Alliance sent an assassin this time likely intended as a warning to the Zhuge Family."

I had thought I could push through with sheer force of atmosphere and derail the conversation, but as expected, a man of the Zhuge Family was no pushover. As he said, it was highly likely that I wasn't such an important figure to the Murim Alliance. After all, looking at the surface appearance, I was an entity akin to the Zhuge Family's sword.

The attempt on my life was an action intended as a warning to the Zhuge Family, telling them not to muddy the waters of the martial world in this way. Whether it worked or not, if the Zhuge Family and I simply lay flat, it was the kind of move that could let us slip past the storm. As I was trying to intimidate them, they were saying that an assassin from the Sichuan Tang Clan wouldn't suddenly appear and turn me into a pincushion, nor would anyone slip poison into my tea.

But what did any of that matter? Someday, when I aimed for the title of Number One Under Heaven and made my name resound, the Murim Alliance would throw aside all justification and wield every brutal, beastly tactic indiscriminately to eliminate me. Then, the Tang Clan's hidden hand would surely come flying at me.

By ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then it would be too late. Was it not an act of chivalry to eliminate them by any means necessary before the opponent could resort to foul tricks?

"So, I think it would be good to lie low and take a rest period for the time being. We haven't openly raised any banners to rally martial artists, and it's ambiguous to say we've openly rebelled against the Murim Alliance. And you, great hero, said you've just grasped the profound principles of the peak realm — don't you need time to train?"

The Zhuge Family and I had different visions. The Zhuge Family wanted the stability of the martial world and the perpetuation of the imperial house, while I wanted everything.

"And let us discuss the next evil-doers to be eliminated later. The Sichuan Tang Clan is somewhat too burdensome a place to touch over something that hasn't happened yet. There's no justification to strike, and the moment we declare hostility, unless we annihilate the entire Tang Clan, we'd have no choice but to carry that danger forever."

Meaning, we were inevitably bound to part ways someday.

I nodded at Zhuge Yeong-yu's words and said this.

"It seems I've been far too frightened, unworthy of a true man. With you, great hero, sorting out the situation so level-headedly, my mind feels clearer, and I am merely ashamed."

Zhuge Yeong-yu smiled brightly when I conceded so readily, and said.

"Both the family and the imperial household also hold great expectations for you, great hero. How could we let you die? If a truly dangerous situation arises, I will take responsibility and protect you, so do not worry."

Zhuge Yeong-yu was apparently quite skilled at honeyed words with a dagger hidden behind them.

Right behind his back, Je Gang, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was glaring down at me with such suspicious eyes — how could he say something so brazen? His outward words and inner thoughts were at odds, and seeing how easily frightened he normally was, he was undoubtedly a person closer to a wench than a man.

"Truly, that puts my mind at ease. Then I shall quietly devote myself to training for the time being as well."

Je Gang looked at me and said.

"I am relieved to hear you are at ease. Please, by all means, apply yourself wholly to your training until you reach an even higher realm."

The Zhuge Family found striking the Tang Clan ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burdensome.

I hadn't expected much, but the disappointment was still unavoidable.